Well, it has been decided

[SimpleSimon]

So, we have a new president elect in this country. I truly hope he lives long enough to be inaugurated, and to serve. I'm not going to ask who anyone voted for, as it is my belief that the secret ballot is a good idea.

I will ask - what expectations do you have? I frankly dpn't have many. It is my opinion that the government of this nation is well past any hope of salvation insofar as "good government" is concerned.

[Mudflap]

I'm strangely tickled that the Republicans lost the White House and more seats in the Congress. They made promises in the mid 90's, got elected, had the power, and then conducted themselves like Democrats. So now they're out on their ass.

That's the way the system should work, in my opinion.

Now if only we could get term limits for the Congress...

*sigh*

[Cruise Director]

I think that most people in the country voted out of spite for W. and the Republicans. It IS worth a mention that there was record turnout in the younger crowd, the blacks, and the hispanics. These 3 groups generally make up a small portion of the voting crowd but they were all pissed enough to get out of the house and vote.

I voted based on reasons other than the economy. Yes the President will work with Congress to get this stuff straightened out, but the majority of the work will be on Congress. My vote was based on future expectations:

1.) I'm pro-choice.
2.) I want personal tax breaks
3.) I want us out of Iraq as soon as possible
4.) I'd like to strengthen the fight in Afghanistan and get it done there.

I AM a bit concerned that Obama is so heavily in favor of Unions that he wants to eliminate the secret ballot.

[Barbie]

What is the feeling in the US right now, post-election?

[skalie]

Depression

[Cruise Director]

What is the feeling in the US right now, post-election?

Not a lot of changes that I have noticed. Here in Republican Central, the population is getting jumpy that Obama will bring back gun control to a higher extent than Clinton did, so they are flocking to the guns and ammo stores to buy up everything they can.

I think he's got a bit too much to worry about right now to focus on the local yocals and their second amendment rights.

[Barbie]

He (obama) has much more to worry about than guns for sure -- so that panic, while warranted (or is it?), seems exaggerated right now.

He has more important things to worry about before Jan 20.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/11/09-3

Published on Sunday, November 9, 2008 by The Telegraph/UK

Sarah Palin Blamed by The US Secret Service Over Death Threats Against Barack Obama

Sarah Palin's attacks on Barack Obama's patriotism provoked a spike in death threats against the future president, Secret Service agents revealed during the final weeks of the campaign.

by Tim Shipman

The Republican vice presidential candidate attracted criticism for accusing Mr Obama of "palling around with terrorists", citing his association with the sixties radical William Ayers.

Palin's tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists.

The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric.

But it has now emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists to go even further.

The Secret Service warned the Obama family in mid October that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Mrs Palin's attacks.

Michelle Obama, the future First Lady, was so upset that she turned to her friend and campaign adviser Valerie Jarrett and said: "Why would they try to make people hate us?"

The revelations, contained in a Newsweek history of the campaign, are likely to further damage Mrs Palin's credentials as a future presidential candidate. She is already a frontrunner, with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, to take on Mr Obama in four years time.

Details of the spike in threats to Mr Obama come as a report last week by security and intelligence analysts Stratfor, warned that he is a high risk target for racist gunmen. It concluded: "Two plots to assassinate Obama were broken up during the campaign season, and several more remain under investigation. We would expect federal authorities to uncover many more plots to attack the president that have been hatched by white supremacist ideologues."

Irate John McCain aides, who blame Mrs Palin for losing the election, claim Mrs Palin took it upon herself to question Mr Obama's patriotism, before the line of attack had been cleared by Mr McCain.

That claim is part of a campaign of targeted leaks designed to torpedo her ambitions, with claims that she did not know that Africawas a continent rather than a country.

The advisers have branded her a "diva" and a "whack job" and claimed that she did not know which other countries are in the North American Free Trade Area, (Canada and Mexico). They say she spent more than $150,000 on designer clothes, including $40,000 on her husband Todd and that she refused to prepare for the disastrous series of interviews with CBS's Katie Couric.

In a bid to salvage her reputation Mrs Palin came out firing in an interview with CNN, dismissing the anonymous leakers in unpresidential language as "jerks" who had taken "questions or comments I made in debate prep out of context."

She said: "I consider it cowardly. It's not true. That's cruel, it's mean-spirited, it's immature, it's unprofessional and those guys are jerks if they came away taking things out of context and then tried to spread something on national news that's not fair and not right."

She was not asked about her incendiary rhetoric against Mr Obama. But she did deny the spending spree claims, saying the clothes in question had been returned to the Republican National Committee. "Those are the RNC's clothes, they're not my clothes. I asked for anything more than maybe a diet Dr Pepper once in a while. These are false allegations."

Speaking as she returned to her native Alaska, Mrs Palin claimed to be baffled by what she claims was sexism on the national stage. "Here in Alaska that double standard isn't applied because these guys know that Alaskan women are pretty tough, on a par with the men in terms of being outdoors, working hard," she said.

"They're commercial fishermen, they're pilots, they're working up on the North slopein the oil fields. You see equality in Alaska. I think that was a bit of as surprise on the national level."



Plus the potential for reversing Bush's decisions on drilling and stem cells will surely piss off alot of neo-nazi's off. :rolleyes:

[Red]

Russia, Cuba, and Venezuala are planning war games in the Caribbean. No good can come of this....what's Obamy gonna do about it?

[SimpleSimon]

Russia, Cuba, and Venezuala are planning war games in the Caribbean. No good can come of this....what's Obamy gonna do about it?Nothing at all. You see, Red, he is the president-elect, not the President, who happens to be the bush-baby. If he wants to do something about it, I'm sure that based on his previous track record and communication skills, Chavez, Castro, and Putin will listen with close attention to little georgie.

Then laugh, long and hard.

[Red]

Yeah I understand he's the President elect. I mistakenly thought these exercises were scheduled for a later date (after he was in office, not during the final weeks of a lame duck presidency). Never the less, I doubt this will be the last we hear from them, and I'm sure you're right in that he'll do nothing.


http://patriotroom.com/russia-to-conduct-war-games-in-caribbean-hints-at-missiles-for-cuba/

[SimpleSimon]

Well, why is it his obligation to do anything about the joint actions of sovereign nations with which we are not at war?

After all, we do joint military exercises in those very same waters routinely. Nor does the Monroe Doctrine exist any longer other than as an historic oddity. Certainly we don't let the Russians, or any arab state, or anyone else tell us we cannot exercise in the Med, or even cruise the Black Sea. For that matter, the persian gulf states mostly don't like our warships in their close proximity, but that doesn't even slow us down.

What's sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander.

[Red]

Well, I'm glad Kennedy didn't think like that. It's not about what's fair, it's about survival.

[SimpleSimon]

Perhaps it was about survival - then. We were at war with the Soviet Union at the time through our mutual proxies in Southeast Asia, not too mention the Cold War. Nevertheless, the Cuban Missile Crisis (which is what I assume you refer to) was primarily precipitated by the US emplacement in northeastern Turkey of medium range SSBM's. The action by the USSR in countering by attempting to emplace missiles in Cuba was pretty much tit for tat.

Unlike the public perception in this country of that series of events as demonstrating the resolution of the US and JFK, the view in the former USSR (amongst those aware of it at all) seems to be "Hah - our bluff worked!"

Because guess what? The US removed the missiles already in place in Turkey in return for an undertaking by the USSR not to emplace missiles in Cuba.

[Red]

I will ask - what expectations do you have? I frankly dpn't have many.

Well, you asked what expectations we have. Among many others that I doubt will actually happen, I expect any President to discourage these kind of war game activities this close to our borders in some fashion.

also,

I expect him not to infringe on my 2nd amendment right.
I expect my 401K to remain untaxed until age 60.
I expect the U.S. borders to be secure by any means necessary.
I expect my country to become oil independent.
I expect him not to tax big business right out of the country, fleeing overseas.
I expect him not to release, or allow terrorists into this country from Gitmo.
I expect him to appoint judges that would rule based on the constitution and the letter of the law.

well, there's 8 off the top of my head that I'm not holding my breath on.

[Asmodeus]

Don't hold yer breath red.

As for the 2nd amendment: democathartic administration= merely a matter of time

US border secure? Are you kidding? Think of all the votes...

Oil independent... hmmm. I am a bit biased on this one considering I have worked most aspects of the oilfield. The US technically is oil independent in that it has enough reserves to make us so. But, you will have to convince Congress to allow drilling and get rid of the BLM so we can uncap the thousands and thousands of wells the BLM capped... to make us dependent. Contradictory ironisms notwithstanding.

Judges that rule based on the constitiution? I think I remember reading about them in the history books.

[Red]

Expecting that he should see to those things as President, and actually believing that he will are entirely different.

So here we are. 12-20-09....well after the passage of the famed "Stimulas Package". Unemployment continues to rise no matter how the administration trys to spin the numbers in their favor. Troops are still being deployed. The economy is in the toilet.

Drilling for oil and building a couple refineries would be a start.